Emirates, the international airline of the UAE, will add another A380 to its London Heathrow route from July 1, making the popular superjumbo experience more widely available to passengers.

The airline brought its own brand of double-decker, equipped with an onboard lounge and shower spas, to the British capital in December 2008.

In addition to the daily EK 001 from Dubai, the A380 will also be deployed on EK 003, which departs Dubai at 1415hrs and arrives in London Heathrow at 1840hrs.

"This is an important development for Emirates as this is the first route where we have made a long term commitment to double up on the double-decker,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates' senior vice president, commercial operations, Europe and Russian Federation.

"London Heathrow was one of the key airports we had in mind when the A380 was first conceived and the new deployment allows more passengers travelling to and from the British capital to experience this remarkable aircraft,” he added.

The giant 517-seat aircraft offers 14 flat-bed first class private suites with electrically operated doors, 76 fully-flat seats in business class - all with mini bars and aisle access, and 427 comfortable contoured seats in Economy - spread across four roomy cabins on the lower deck.

Passengers in all classes can lose themselves in the quietness of the aircraft and the much-enjoyed ice entertainment system. There are more than 1000 channels of on-demand entertainment including 200 movies from around the world, 100 TV channels, more than 500 audio channels, 100 video games and BBC news, sports and business headlines.

A personal satellite phone is fitted to each seat, which also carries a seat-back SMS and email service, along with seat to seat calling and a "My USB" personal picture viewing facility.

Emirates, which has won more than 400 international awards for its products and services, is now operating eight A380s. In addition to London Heathrow, they fly to Toronto, Paris, Jeddah, Bangkok, Seoul, Sydney and Auckland. – TradeArabia News Service